Cayman’s swimming superstar Jordan Crooks is in the spotlight once again, this time at the 2023 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships at Rec Center Natatorium.
University of Tennessee sophomore Crooks claimed his second individual medal of the week on Thursday (16 Feb), taking silver in the 100 butterfly thanks to a 44.37 effort. During prelims, he set the SEC Meet and pool record with a lifetime best of 44.04.
Prior to that, Crooks, who became Cayman’s first world champion ever, etched his name in history on Wednesday night, becoming the second man to swim sub 17 in the 50-yard freestyle, winning a second consecutive SEC title in 17.93.
He joins Caeleb Dressel, who was also the last person to win the event in back-to-back years, as the only swimmer ever to achieve the feat of swimming faster than 18.00 seconds. Crooks’ performance also marked a new SEC Meet record.
In addition to that, Crooks kicked off the 2023 SEC Championships for the Volunteers with a program-record-shattering performance in the 200-medley relay on Tuesday.
The lineup of Björn Kammann, Michael Houlie, Crooks and Gui Caribe trailed by nearly half a second entering the third leg of the race, but Crooks’ insane 18.90 fly split—the fastest 50-yard fly ever on a relay split—erased the deficit and vaulted the Vols to first in 1:21.43, marking the second-fastest time in SEC history and setting a new SEC Championship meet record.
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